Hey Friend

How often do you give your opinion to your people throughout your workday?

No doubt your expertise is called on regularly to make decisions and solve problems...but...do you ever find yourself giving your opinion where it's not needed? I know I do (it's an ego thing). 😬

Sharing your opinion can unintentionally shut down the opinions of others (particularly if it's different from your own) and promote groupthink which leads to complacency and mediocre performance.

Even when you don't openly share your opinion, it may come through in how you deliver a message that you may not agree with. I remember, in my early years of leading a team, my manager delivering a message about an upcoming change - the way he spoke seemed forced and even slightly apathetic and I got the sense that he didn't agree with it - but was required to conform. When I delivered the message to my team, I felt a similar feeling of apathy and, as a result, my team didn't connect to the message either. In fact they resisted the change which then took four times the amount of time, and more energy than we had to spare, to implement it. It was ridiculously ineffective and totally avoidable - had me and my manager been able to assume a neutral position the outcome would have been very different!

On reflection of this, I realised an important skill for a leader to develop is the ability to communicate with consideration of multiple sides - where opinions are reserved and different perspectives appreciated. This is one of the reasons my colleague and I created the card game 2 Sides in 2 Minutes. It's a game that requires individuals to present two sides of a statement (for and against) with consistency in their delivery and variety in their thinking.

If you're looking for ways to develop this skill I'd love to have you join us for the official launch event in Melbourne on the 29th of July and experience the game first hand.

Until then, stay awesome!

S. 😁